Border town
/ Dajabón]] A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states, or regions. Usually the term implies that the nearness to the border is one of the things the place is most famous for. With close proximities to a different country, exotic culture and traditions can have certain influence to the place. Border towns can have highly cosmopolitan communities, a feature they share with port cities, as traveling and trading often go through the town. They can also be flashpoints for international conflicts, especially when the two countries have territorial disputes. Border towns of Haiti From south to north 1. Anse-à-Pitres, SD 2. Fonds-Verrettes, OU 3. Ganthier 4. Thomazeau 5. Cornillon 6. Savanette, CE 7. Belladère 8. Thomonde 9. Thomassique 10. Cerca-la-Source 11. Carice, NE 12. Capotille 13. Ouanaminthe 14. Ferrier The Haiti / Dominican Republic border Until relatively recent times the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic remained ill-defined. Neither the French colonists in the west nor the Spanish in the east had paid much attention to the lands between them, and during the colonial period an area roughly corresponding to what is now the Haitian department of the Central Plateau had remained under nominal Spanish control. Even after Haiti and the Dominican Republic became independent there was no mutually recognized border. The population of this region intermingled and move freely up until the time of the U.S. occupations Haiti (1915 to 1934) and the Dominican Republic (1916 to 1924) when a border was delineated and stricter controls were imposed. In 1937, the Dominican dictator, Trujilo, brutally asserted Dominican sovereignty over the borderlands by ordering the massacre of as many as 25,000 Haitians and dark-skinned Dominicans living in the area, and thereafter, the racist propaganda of right-wing Dominican politicians has stirred up considerable anti-Haitian sentiment. Prejudice against Haitians among many lighter-skinned Dominicans has become commonplace. Despite this hostility, large numbers of Haitians continue to cross over the approximately 175 Mi (275 km) border to find work as sugar cane cutters, tobacco and coffee pickers, and construction laborers. Many have settled in the Dominican Republic, although their immigration status remains undefined and today there are an estimated 500,000 Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic. Haitians Today There are also significant Haitian populations in the French Caribbean territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Martin, and Guyana, as well as in the Bahamas, and the British dependency, the Turks and Caicos Islands. Most of these people are immigrants with uncertain residency status, and in recent years the host countries have been repatriating Haitians in large numbers. These returnees bring with them their experiences of different cultures and attitudes, but the greatest influence of this type on modern-day Haitian Society comes from those one million or so Haitians who live legally in North America. Not only do they bolster a failing economy with their remittances that total as much as US$600 million a year - providing essential support to tens of thousands of families - but many return to Haiti at carnival and for summer vacations. North American - particularly African-American - fashion and music styles are increasingly evident in Port-au-Prince and other towns. Economy Total Haitian merchandise imports from the Dominican Republic are estimated to be $1.423 billion in 2014, or 34% of Haiti’s total imports. Of this figure, $1.067 billion are registered at Dominican customs and $375 million are not. This $375 million is estimated through a calibration process carried out by the Dominican national bureau of statistics (Oficina Nacional de Estadística - ONE), using a wide variety of other sources. Despite strong growth between 2000 and 2012, merchandise imports values from the DR have more or less stagnated since 2012. After increasing from $200 million in 2002 to $1.56 billion in 2012, a slight decrease has been observed, moving to $1.51 billion in 2013 and $1.42 billion in 2014. This may be a sign that Dominican products have reached saturation point in the Haitian market or that post-earthquake reconstruction is slowing and hence requiring less imported inputs. Informal Haitian merchandise imports from the Dominican Republic are substantial, ONE estimates $375 million is not registered at Dominican customs and it is likely that the values which bypass Haitian customs are even higher. Goods can enter Haiti informally via several paths: the border (or binational) markets; crossing the border at poorly monitored points; customs fraud at the official border crossings; or by boat at the north and south coasts or across Lake Azuéi. Further reading Border town - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_town Category:Geography of Haiti